There’s a new “chopper” motorcycle shop stashed down near Nawiliwili Harbor at Anchor Cove and, already, all the cool kids seem to know about it. You can see them on any given day hanging out, watching East Side Chopper owner
There’s a new “chopper” motorcycle shop stashed down near Nawiliwili Harbor at Anchor Cove and, already, all the cool kids seem to know about it.
You can see them on any given day hanging out, watching East Side Chopper owner Chris “Kalika” Alves weld, hammer, bend, and sand blast aluminum and steel alloy motorcycle frames and parts into rolling pieces of art.
It’s just like all those chopper shows on television now, only this stuff happens right in front of your eyes.
Locals and visitors alike sit transfixed as Alves locks in huge cycle engines to frames. He’s not a bike mechanic, but a bike builder, he says. A craftsman, if you will, using the modern tools of a trade that goes back a hundred years, and draws on a tradition that today can be described as kinda scary, kinda esoteric, kinda high-tech.
Visitors sit in East Side’s bar-like viewing area on old-fashioned 50’s soda-stand stools, reminiscent of a time when teenage boys used enough grease in their hair to lubricate a car chasse.
But it’s the 8-inch high red and black stiletto boots in East Side’s gift shop that bring you back to the modern day.
East Side may be pushing the fashion envelope on Kaua‘i buy boldly proclaiming their gift shop as having “the largest selection of piercing jewelry, leather, fetish shoes (all over four inches) and low rise Brazilian pants and skirts on island.”
“Yeah, we kinda toned it down somewhat,” Alves laughs. The fashions are just enough to trigger the animal in the average Joe without crossing the line, he figures.
The combination of a gift shop and working bike building shop is unique to Kaua‘i n perhaps even the whole state n and Alves is hoping that it’ll attract the attention of kids of all ages. “Hey, if they aren’t buying a bike, they’ll probably buy a T-shirt or boots or something,” says the 38-year-old entrepreneur and bike aficionado. “I’m relying on the boats, too, to bring in business, and that’s the reason for coming to Anchor Cove and having the gift shop.”
The shop opened in May and Alves expects he’ll have to pay his dues in order to get business rolling. In the meantime, he’s decided to craft two signature East Side bikes that he figures will have jaws dropping around town.
“I want to have something on the road that makes people say, ‘who made that bike?!'”
Alves is a long-time rider and Kaua‘ian, with roots in the mainland (read, California) biker scene, now made so popular by shows like American Chopper or even some of those shows that feature tattooed mechanic gods like Jesse James of Monster Garage fame.
He comes from a long-line of bike builders and bike lovers, he says.
“I learned pretty much everything I know from my uncles,” he said. “I used to sit around and watch them build their own bikes when I was a kid.”
“I grew up at a time when Japanese bikes weren’t allowed,” Alves recalls.
Movies like Steve McQueen’s “Great Escape” or Brando’s “The Wild Bunch” sparked Alves interest in the whole chopper scene, so it’s always been a dream for him to settle into a chopper shop all his own.
After dumping at least a $100 grand into the 2,000 square-foot shop, complete with chopper murals on the walls, TIG and MIG welders, pipe shapers, Mill Drills, a sand blaster, plasma cutters, and multiple $500 digital helmets welding helmets with super cool art designs, Alves turned his attention to building his signature bikes.
“They’re like PR on wheels,” Alves said.
Alves expects to roll out his first “debut” bike July 4, Independence Day, when hundreds of cyclists will be on the road for various “runs,” including the famed Poker Run for local charities. That first bike will probably cost $30 to $50k on the open market, but Alves said he’ll sell for a “local price” of around $17k. The second could go on the market for as much as $100k. “I’m going to sell them at a reduced rate because I think it makes good sense to give something back to the community in this way,” Alves said.
Alves is all about community. You can see it in the way he jokes with the teenagers who’ve taken to his shop like kids took to soda joints back in the fifties. While Maui, the Big Island or even Oahu offer more roading opportunities for chopper aficionados, Alves opened his shop here because he says that, even though he spent part of his childhood between California and Kaua‘i, “I’m a Kaua‘ian.”
“You know how you can tell a real Kaua‘ian business?” he asks. “See if they’re still around after having lived through a couple of hurricanes.”
Most of the work is done in shop, and all of the parts come from outside the state, but real “artsy” stuff will be done right here on island, including the painting, which Alves said will be done in an “undisclosed location” here. Alves’ venture is an experiment, to some degree, and he knows that it’ll take some time before word gets out about his place n and his craftsmanship.
He has help in the persons of Joel Deets, his 26-year-old assistant, and Brian “DJ” Kobo, 23, the shop’s piercing artist and self-described “Master of Pain and Pleasure.”
That infusion of younger talent gives his bike designs and painting a combination of “old school” and “new school” style, he says: Von Dutch pinstriping and Ratfink old school meets L.A. Graffiti Crew and Tagger art. If none of that makes sense, don’t worry. The chopper scene has traditionally been esoteric, though today it has merged with a variety of more mainstream art forms to include painting and even music. Indeed, choppers aren’t just a ride, but a lifestyle, says Alves.
Blue Knights, Koa Puna, Sons of Hawaii, Ali‘is and military veterans are the bigger clubs on the island. “I figure about 25 percent of the riders on Kaua‘i are in a club, but the rest are independents,” he says.
Try talking about personal matters, such as Alves’ two high-school age kids or his parents, who live here, and he’ll try to steer the conversation away. “Let’s just talk about the bikes, okay?” he says. Okay.
It’s tough to argue with a 250-pound guy with massive, wrench-turning forearms.
Even with all that chrome, leather and muscle, Alves’ shop is surprisingly family friendly. After all, his daughter often runs the gift shop, and it’s not unusual to see his mom and dad stop by just to say hello.
And, of course, there are the kids n the next generation of bikers, Alves figures.
“If I can be a positive role model for them, that’s great. They’re always welcome here,” he says with a smile.
